


Angel

by Takiiraa



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Aruani Week, Character Death, Child Death, F/M, Family Drama, Love, Modern Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan, Shooting Guns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:02:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27755059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Takiiraa/pseuds/Takiiraa
Summary: There’s nothing crueler than losing a child.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhart
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	Angel

** 2015 **

  
The rain was falling without stopping. The clouds had gathered, creating a dark and disturbing atmosphere. Armin watched nature come to life and the drops smashed into the glass. Looking down on his morose eyes, he continued to play on his computer to finish his chapter. He rose when he heard the front door open and close.

  
\- Hello," said the blond, turning to his wife.

  
Annie smiled at him and went into the kitchen. The blond’s heart painfully tightened. Their relationship had deteriorated and continued to sink. They had often discussed divorce, but none had taken the first step. Armin rose from his office chair and walked to their room. When they went to bed at night, they were back to each other.Their days were monotonous and joyless. They had hardly had sex since what had happened. They kissed very seldom and almost never cuddled. Their love was always present but it was not as joyful as before.

  
Armin walked through the corridors of his house and met Annie, who served herself a glass of wine in silence. He’d love to hug her, but he knew she’d push him away. Destroyed, he retreated to the end of the corridor and stopped in front of a white door. He slipped his hand and pushed it gently before arriving in a room. Their daughter’s room. A room without life since her death.

  
He sat down on the small bed and caught a plush unicorn and held it against him in silence. Turning his head towards the bedside table, he grabbed a picture frame where their daughter was with him and Annie. Her smile was so innocent. She had her eyes and the shape of Annie’s face but she also had a strong character from her mother. A real little manipulator, ready to do anything to get her way. Swallowing his tears, he rested the frame in its place while keeping the plush against him. He backed against the wall and closed his eyes.

  
_ He didn’t want to live anymore. _

** 2008 **

  
Turning around in the waiting room, Armin was pacing, scared to death. His stomach was tightening and sweat was on his face when a hand landed on his shoulder.

  
\- Armin, everything will be fine. She is strong," said Mikasa, reassuring her friend.

  
Now two hours the delivery was going on and it was without news. As soon as he had received a message from Annie that she had great pains in her stomach, he rushed to them. The idea of being a father was for him the most beautiful role in the world. He still remembered the day when Annie had announced her pregnancy. He was like a child hopping on the spot.

  
\- Mr. Arlert," called a midwife who had just opened the double door. "Congratulations."

  
Entering the room, he fell upon the tired but smiling face of his wife holding their daughter in her arms.

  
\- Hey," she said.

  
He quickly drew a chair and kissed his wife’s lips before caressing her face.

  
\- You are incredible," he murmured.

  
The blonde smiles at him before reporting her intention on their daughter who was moving, wrapped in her little pajamas. Armin let his tears escape and slipped his hand under Annie’s that supported her little head.

** 2009 **

  
\- Look at who this is from?" asked Armin, giggling at the little plush in the shape of a unicorn.  
\- Plush!" said the little girl, crawling towards her father.  
\- Come to daddy," encouraged the blond.

  
Laura looked at the little plush like a trophy and pushed on her hands to stand up. Armin’s eyes widened in response.

  
\- Honey! The camera!

  
Annie quickly let go of what she was doing and rushed into their room. Laura did not really understand the panic in both her parents' eyes and fell to her knees. Annie quickly stood behind her husband and grabbed the camera to film it.

  
\- You can do it," continued Armin. "That way!" said he, pointing out to her. "On your knees and you push!"

  
She giggled and imitated him before standing up.

  
\- One step in front of the other!"

  
Laura moved awkwardly towards her father, with her eyes fixed on the cuddly toy which he always giggled in front of her. She continued her small steps and caught him before falling into his arms.

  
\- You did it!"

  
Annie stopped filming and approached her two loves with a smile on her face.

  
\- You did it, my love," said she, kissing the top of her head.

** 2011 **

  
Parking the car on the street, Armin unbuttoned his belt and slammed his door. Today was Laura’s first day of school and he was terrified. Annie, she didn’t show it, but the stress was on her as they approached the gate.

  
Laura was hopping on the spot, her two hands in those of her parents. Her little purple schoolbag bounced off her back, she was so excited.

  
\- She takes after you," said Annie.  
\- Oh, why?"  
\- Because I wasn’t so happy to go to class."

  
Armin laughed. _That was true._

  
Arriving at the gate, Annie knelt down in front of her daughter and gently tightened her coat.

  
\- Well, you be careful, okay? The teachers will explain how the day will unfold."

  
\- Yes Mom! I listen and stay calm!

  
She smiled and kissed her cheek before hugging her. Armin did the same and they backed up to let her in.

  
\- See you later," she exclaimed, waving at them.

  
\- Have a nice day, my sweetheart! smiles Armin, giving her a sign. I hope it will go well…

  
\- You’re too Armin Daddy Hen."  
\- Mh," he said, turning around. "You’re not bad at it."

  
The blonde lifted her eyes to the sky before pinching his ribs when he tried to steal a kiss from her.

  
\- You’re mean, sulked Armin. But I like that."  
\- You are unbearable."  
\- Unbearably cute?

** 2012 **

  
\- The horse feels your fear so you have to be natural," said Annie. "Hold your reins like this."

  
Laura followed her mother’s advice and took the reins. Now four years old, the little girl had developed the same passion as her mother when she was young. Annie told her about the contests, photos, and trophies she won when she was 19. Laura was fascinated and wanted to be a rider too.

  
Armin, with his camera, photographed them. His heart was filled with tenderness when she saw Annie so tender and their daughter listening. His wife was so caught up in her legal work that the time spent with her daughter was a rarity. She had decided to put her files aside for this weekend in order to devote herself to her.

  
\- To turn it, you pull your left hand, opening like this, guided Annie. Likewise to go right.

  
Annie slowly pulled on the reins to move the little shetland forward.

  
\- For example, you’re going to do that slalom. I’ll stay close and you’ll do it alone."  
\- All right!

  
Armin smiled and took another picture while his daughter led the pony alone. Laura managed perfectly well, she was attentive and gentle with the animal, congratulating him with a caress with each success. She took after her mother in this field.

Stuck in the back of his wife, the blond slept peacefully. The day had been exhausting and he had thrown himself into bed after having put Laura to bed. The winter was redoubling its efforts outside and it was frozen but Annie was a real radiator.

  
\- Dad… Mom…

  
He stood up gently and saw his daughter at the entrance of their room, her unicorn plush in her arms. Annie rose up again, still asleep.

  
\- I…had a nightmare…

  
Armin smiled and turned his gaze to Annie, who extended her arm to invite her. The little girl clung to the blankets and climbed onto the bed before slipping between her two parents.

  
\- It’s normal to have nightmares," reassured Armin, pushing a blonde strand behind his ear. "I happen to do it a few times."  
\- Even adults?"  
\- Even the big ones, Annie whispered, pulling the blanket over her.  
\- But the adults are not afraid," said the little girl, clutching her stuffed animal.  
\- Oh yes," said Armin, wrapping his arm around his and his wife. "Adults are children who grew up too fast. They are afraid too."  
\- What are you afraid of?"

  
Annie looked up at Armin.

  
\- To lose what we love," he replied.

** 2012 **

  
\- See you tonight," exclaimed the little girl.  
\- Tonight," smiled Armin, waving at him.  
\- Tell Mom I love her!" she cried before she went home with her friends.  
\- I promise!

  
Armin thought already five years. She grew up so fast.

  
The day unfolded. Annie was in court holding a hearing while Armin was working on the end of her novel. Leaning into his seat, he put his eyes on the picture frame where his little family was before reporting his intention on the abandoned plush in the middle of the room.

The secretary lifted her eyes from her computer and watched the man dressed in black enter the school.

  
\- Hello, can I help you?" she asked before she put her intention on the bag.

  
The latter took out an assault rifle.

His eyes widened. Suddenly, he felt ill, he felt that something was going to happen. Shaking his head, he retired to the kitchen and took a glass of water while turning on the TV.

  
_ “A deadly tragedy that took place in Connecticut just an hour ago, in a kindergarten, 20 children and 6 adults were killed by a man who took his own life seconds later…” _

  
Armin dropped his glass when he recognized his daughter’s school.

  
Annie came out of her hearing and turned on her phone after she silenced it.

  
\- 15 calls? Are you serious, Armin? got mad.

  
She was about to listen to them when she heard people talk about a shooting in a kindergarten. Panic gripped her breathing and she listened to the calls.

  
She screamed.

  
Among the 26 victims was Laura Arlert, 4 years old.

  
** 2015 **

  
Armin wiped his tears and buried his face in his hands. He froze when the door opened gently and he straightened himself up. Annie was watching him, surprised to see him here.

  
\- Armin?  
\- Sorry," he quickly apologized, wiping his tears from his arm.  
\- I too am crying here."

  
He kept quiet.

  
\- I make sure you don’t see me," she admitted, sitting by her side.  
\- Annie…  
\- I have often thought of ending my life.

  
He clenched his jaw, letting his tears escape from his eyes, keeping the plush pressed against him.

  
\- But Laura wouldn’t have wanted that."

  
Annie closed her eyes and turned her head away from Armin to hide but she felt his male hand grasp her chin gently. She fell into the alarming gaze of her husband. A destroyed gaze that was once shining with joy and love. A look that called for help.

  
\- I thought about it," said Armin, caressing her cheek. "Then I thought about her and you. You’re the reason I still care." Indeed, Laura would never have wanted us to be in this state, she was so joyful. 

We must be strong for her.

  
The lips of the blonde trembled.

  
\- Annie, if I lose you, I fall apart. If I lose you, I cling to what? Because if I do, what’s the point of living?"

He wiped away her tears which poured out without stopping.

  
\- She will not come back and we have to accept it. We have to move forward without forgetting her because her stays with us.

  
Annie burst into tears before being held in the arms of Armin who pressed her against him, kissing the top of her head.

_ On December 14, 2012, a shootout broke out at a nursery school in Connecticut. 27 deaths including 20 children and 6 adults were killed. _

  
_ In the United States, the port of arms and the equal in order to satisfy the economy of the country. Conversely, it causes mass killings in schools every year. _

  
_ And nobody does anything to stop it. _


End file.
